Return To Snowy Creek (2 page)

“I tend to get started a little early,” she
said. “Maybe I should’ve just stayed in bed this morning.”

“I’m Grant, by-the-way. I’d offer to shake
your hand, but it would take me ten minutes to clean it up if I
did,” he smiled.

“I know who you are—”

“From the television show, I guess,” Grant
interrupted.

“No. I don’t watch much TV.” The woman
smiled. “Sorry.”

“Oh,” Grant said, feeling a bit insecure
about his assumption. “How do you know who I am?”

“You have quite a movie star status
reputation around here.”

Grant exhaled at the thought of everyone
thinking he was a movie star. It would be hard to get rid of that
image. Some days he would just like to blend in, especially at
home. “You look familiar to me,” Grant said.

“You don’t remember me do you?” She tipped
her head to the side, apparently waiting for an answer.

“I’d think maybe you were a creepy fan with
a comment like that, but since you’ve never watched the show, I’m
at a loss here. I don’t remember you.” His interest piqued. He
thought for a minute, but couldn’t place her.

“It’s me. Jackie Baldwin,” she said.

Grant shook his head back-and-forth. “Still
not placing you.”

“I’m not sure if I should be offended or
happy you can’t remember me,” Jackie said. She lifted her hand to
her forehead to move a small patch of hair not covered with paint,
smearing it in the process.

“Now you have my interest, ”Grant said. He
lifted his hand to scratch his forehead. “Why can’t I place you?”
He slid one of his hands into his jeans pocket.

“Humph. That’s a good question. But, I’ll
leave you with that. I have some paint to wash off. Good to see you
again.” Jackie turned and walked out of the back door of the
store.

“See ya later.” As she walked away, Grant
could hear her thanking Gary outside, behind the store, where
contractors usually loaded their trucks with supplies.

Gary walked in through the back door of the
hardware store. “Hey Grant, glad you’re here,” Gary stuck his hand
out to shake Grant’s.

“Who’s that woman?” Grant asked. He pointed
to the back door.

“Jackie. She’s a local builder. Gives the
high school kids jobs, so they can get some experience before going
out in the real world. Great gal,” Gary said. “I’m surprised your
mom hasn’t already tried to set you up with her. When she heard you
were coming back to help out in the store, she drew up her list of
names of local women to fix you up with. Your mom’s been down here
three times this week alone.”

Grant set his coffee cup on the desk. “I’m
surprised she didn’t just Tweet the names.” Grant laughed when he
thought about his mother and her new social media habits. “She
needs a few etiquette lessons in that arena.”

“Ever since your dad died, it’s given her
something to do,” Gary said. “I think she texts or tweets
everything she has to tell. She even made me get a Twitter account.
I only follow her, but I’ve somehow ended up with fifty followers
and I’ve never chirped or tweeted—or whatever you call it—one
time.”

Grant laughed. He had truly missed home. “So
this Jackie. What’s her story?”

“Don’t let your mom get wind of your
interest. She’ll be following Jackie all over town.”

“Jackie knows me, but I just can’t place
her. She looks so familiar,” Grant said.

“It’ll come to ya. Just give it time,” Gary
said. “In the meantime, why don’t ya get started helping me unload
a truck out back? I’m glad you’re here.”

***

“I see you had a bit of trouble getting the
last of the paint out of your hair,” the high school shop teacher,
Colin Clark, said to Jackie. He laughed and walked behind his desk
in the shop classroom. “How’d you manage to do that anyway?”

“Apparently one of the kids didn’t close the
paint can well enough when they put it back on the top shelf. When
I grabbed it, it all came pouring out on my head,” Jackie said. She
ran her hands over the crusty paint still on her contractor
pants.

“One day you’ll learn to go behind them and
double check everything,” Colin said. He shook his head
back-and-forth a couple of times and laughed again. “They’re good
kids, but they’re in a hurry and they tend to leave a messy trail
behind them.”

“It’s still a little crusty,” Jackie said,
reaching up to run her hands through her still tangled hair. “It’ll
eventually come out. It’s not the first time I’ve been in a sticky
mess.” It also wasn’t the first time a high school student had
wreaked havoc on her hair. Jackie thought about seeing Grant
Williams the day before and couldn’t believe he didn’t remember
her. Not only had they been in several classes together in high
school, he was the one that caused her last hair quandary, when he
poured honey all over her head at a football game. It was at least
a decade ago, but she’d never forgotten how long it took to get the
honey out of her hair.

Grant was a bit of trouble in high school,
and she tried to steer clear or him and his bad-boy reputation, but
she’d always thought he was good-looking. All these years later his
looks were no exception. Grant had grown better looking with time.
He kept a day’s worth of stubble on his face, and could knock her
off her feet in a flash with his quick-wit and handsome smile. She
hated that the one time she saw him, she was covered in paint.
She’d obviously not left much of an impression in high school,
although she hoped she was a lot more attractive now than when she
wore inch-thick Coke-bottle glasses. When she first started wearing
contacts, no one knew who she was.

Jackie turned her attention back to Colin.
“I came by to see if you can you come up to the house I’m working
on with some students tomorrow afternoon? I need an extra hand.”
Jackie asked Colin. She sat down on a stool at one of the shop
tables near Colin’s desk. She had a soda in her hand and set it
down on the table.

“I wish I could help, but tomorrow is not a
good day. My parent’s are coming into town and I have to go to
Denver and pick them up at the airport. I’ve got a substitute
coming in and we’ll actually be out-of-pocket for a few days.”
Colin shuffled some papers around and opened up his grading
book.

“Well, I might have to hold off on this
project then. I need someone that has a lot more experience
building a TV unit.” Jackie pulled her strawberry blonde hair into
a bun and slid a pencil through to hold it in place. She lifted her
soda up and took a drink out of the straw.

“What about Grant Williams?”

Jackie almost choked. She placed her drink
on the desk and coughed a few times.

“You okay?” Colin asked. He paused for a
moment. “You know who he is don’t you? He’s that television
personality that has the building show, ‘30-Minutes Or Less.’ I bet
he can build you a TV unit in thirty minutes.”

Jackie coughed a couple more times. “Yeah, I
know who he is. I don’t think he really built things in thirty
minutes, though. I’ve never watched the show, but I’m sure they
just made it look that way. But he—”

“You’ve never watched the show? I watch it
all the time. Great show,” Colin said, with a voice of
disbelief.

“Nope. Never watched it,” Jackie had heard
about Grant all over town. She’d even seen his pictures splashed on
the cover of tabloid magazines. Grant was the big hero in Snowy
Creek. In fact, because she was a builder, people asked her all the
time if she watched the show. Over and over she’d hear people say
how much she could learn from Grant Williams. ‘Just watch the show.
You’ll learn how to do your job,’ people would say all the time.
Jackie couldn’t help but get tired of the comments.

Colin interrupted her thoughts. “Besides,
the students would love to meet him. Maybe it would encourage them
to work a little harder when they see what job possibilities are
out there.”

“I can see I don’t have a choice in this,”
Jackie said, taking another sip of her soda. She smiled at Colin.
“I guess I’d better ask. The client wants to know when the TV unit
will be completed.”

“
Go ask in thirty minutes
or less,” Colin said, laughing. He winked at Jackie.

“Ha ha,” Jackie said. “I’m on my way.” She
grabbed her drink, and headed toward the hardware store.

“Hey Gary,” Jackie said, walking up to the
counter at the hardware store.

“Hi Jackie,” Gary said. He put some nails on
the counter and paused for a moment. “Can I help you get
something?”

“Maybe,” Jackie said. She still wasn’t sure
she wanted to ask Grant for help, but he was most likely one of the
few people in Snowy Creek that could build what she needed in a
short amount of time. She reluctantly asked, “I’m actually here
looking for Grant. Is he around?”

“Well now, he seems to be a popular guy
around here already. I can hardly keep him in the store. Must be
all that fame,” Gary said. He chuckled at his own joke.

“If he’s not here I can come back. I’m not
looking for someone famous, I just need someone to help me build
something. I heard he was pretty good at carpentry.”

“He sure is. Did you watch his show?”

Jackie shook her hear back-and-forth. “Nope,
didn’t watch his show.” She was starting to believe that if she had
a dime for every time she was asked that question, she’d be able to
get a free latte every day.

“Shoulda watched it. He can build
anything—”

“Let me guess,” Jackie interjected, “in
thirty minutes or less.” She smiled at Gary.

“Very good, at least you’ve been listening,”
Gary said. He lifted his hand and tipped his finger at her,
jokingly. “Grant went down the street to pick up some lunch. He
should be back here in a little bit.”

“Okay, I’ll check back in a little while,”
Jackie said. She waved goodbye to Gary and walked out on Main
Street.

The clouds in the distance rolled slowly
across the mountains, blanketing the tops. The snow would start
falling any day now. The Aspen trees were lit up with red and gold
leaves, and decorated the mountainsides. Fall was hands-down
Jackie’s favorite time of year. Many of the trees were starting to
lose their leaves, getting ready for the colder weather. It
wouldn’t surprise her if a few flurries fell in the next day or so.
The temperature had dropped quite a bit from the morning, but
Colorado weather was famous for drastic temperature changes in one
day.

Jackie zipped up her jacket and continued
walking back toward her shop. As she neared Hutch’s Restaurant, the
door swung open and Grant came barreling out.

“Lookout!” Jackie yelled.

Grant looked up and tried to stop. With a
coffee cup in one hand, he fumbled with the Styrofoam container in
the other, but it opened, and the contents of his lunch came out
and spilled all over the front of Jackie’s jacket.

Jackie lifted her arms to the side and
looked up at Grant. “Well, I’m guessing that was a ham sandwich
with lots of extra mustard.”

“Yep,” Grant said, sheepishly. “I am so
sorry. I’m starting to wonder if I’m ever going to see you without
being covered in paint or condiments.” The two laughed.

Jackie wiped some of the mustard off of her
chin and held out her hand, unsure of where to wipe it.

“Here’s a napkin,” Grant said. He gingerly
lifted his hand to her chin and wiped off a little more of the
yellowing stain and then handed her the napkin. “I only have one
napkin. I guess Hutch didn’t think I’d be this messy.”

“Little did he know,” Jackie said with a
smile. She felt a rush of butterflies when Grant touched her chin.
Heat rose in her face and Jackie hoped it wasn’t obvious to
him.

“I am so sorry. I truly didn’t mean to get
my lunch all over you.” Grant leaned down and started to pick up
the food off of the ground.

Jackie bent down and threw a few pieces of
ham and crumbled up chips back into the broken Styrofoam
container.

“It’s okay,” Jackie said. “It’s not a
problem.”

“How can I make it up to you?” Grant and
Jackie both stood up. He fumbled with the container again and
turned around to dump it into the trash can on the sidewalk. “I’d
better get rid of this thing before I drop it on you again.”

Jackie smiled at his comment.

Grant continued, “Can I buy you lunch?”

Jackie paused for a moment. “Actually, I do
have a way you can make it up to me.”

“Sure, what is it?” Grant asked.

“I need help building a TV unit for a
client. I’ve been known to build a few things, but carpentry is not
my specialty. You come highly recommended. Think you can spare a
day to help?” Jackie hoped he would agree. She could finish the job
early and the client would be able to move into their new house as
soon as they arrived in town.

“Sure,” Grand said. “I’d love to help.”

“Really?” Jackie was actually surprised he
agreed.

“Of course. It’s been a long time since I
actually got to build something on my own.” He took a sip from his
coffee cup.

“I thought you built everything on your
show?”

“Oh no,” Grant shook his head
back-and-forth. “I have so many helpers on the show that I rarely
get to put my hands on the projects. I haven’t had a chance to be
creative in a long time.”

“Well, this might be right up your alley.
The owners just have a few specifics they are requesting, but the
rest would be up to you,” Jackie said.

Grant seemed to perk up a bit at the idea.
“That actually sounds great.”

“Do you have some paper I can write the
address down on?” Jackie asked.

Grant patted down his shirt pocket and
pulled out a small scrap of paper and handed it to Jackie.

She pulled the pencil out of her hair,
letting her strawberry blonde locks fall across her shoulders.
Jackie scratched the address down on the paper and handed it back
to Grant. “I’m looking forward to seeing what you can create.”